The Chinese Room outlines Vampire Bloodlines 2’s Blood Resonance system
Vampire Bloodlines 2’s Blood Resonance system encourages you to get picky with your food and even adds some RPG elements in how you go about choosing a menu item. The Chinese Room touched briefly on the subject in the last dev diary about how feeding from the innocent people of Seattle works, but now, we’re getting a clearer idea about why you need to thanks to another dev diary.
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Blood in Bloodlines 2 falls under three broad categories. There’s Choleric blood, which comes from angry people; Melancholic blood you get off sad or anxious people; and Sanguine blood, a type that forms when people feel sexually aroused. Yes, you can suck sexy blood in Bloodlines 2. You are a vampire, after all.
Anyway, the point of all this is that different blood types unlock different abilities for Phyre – that’s you – and you can, and should, encourage people’s emotions in ways that benefit you. How you go about that depends on a number of factors, including the way you dress, which could inspire fear or arousal, and what you say during a conversation. The Chinese Room says your conversation options depend on the choices you make throughout the game, but if you get it wrong and spoil the mood, your food may run or even call for help.
Learning abilities requires a mix of different Blood Resonance types, which, admittedly, sounds like it could get a bit tedious. However, there are areas where you can just cut straight to feeding without having to get the mood just right. Helping other clans and forging strong contacts with them also grants you special abilities, though you may have to identify and procure special meals for your contacts at some point as well.
There’s still no Vampire Bloodlines 2 release date, though Paradox intends to launch it sometime in early 2025. That’s an achievement in itself, seeing as the publisher was about to cancel Bloodlines 2 before The Chinese Room came along with a new vision for it.